Hypertensive Emergencies and Urgencies: Adherence to Guidelines and Relationship Between Blood Pressure Management and In–hospital Mortality

Abstract Introduction Data regarding prevalence and clinical management of hypertensive emergencies and urgencies are lacking and heterogeneous. Our goal is to characterize patients with hypertensive emergencies and urgencies admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of Niguarda hospital and Pio XI Hospital of Desio. In this population we also want to evaluate factors associated with organ damage, adherence to guidelines and the impact of Blood Pressure (BP) management on in–hospital mortality. Method We performed a multi–centre retrospective study collecting data about all adult patients with systolic BP ≥ 180 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥120 mmHg admitted to our hospitals‘ ED during 2017 and 2019. Results Admission to ED for BP elevation were 1838 (0.95% of total admission to ED), of whom 38% were hypertensive emergencies and 62% were hypertensive urgencies. Patients with hypertensive emergencies were older, mainly male, with more comorbidities and more symptomatic at ED admission. In the emergencies group, we observe a SBP mean reduction of 39.50 mmHg (±26.35) and a DBP mean lowering of 16.28 mmHg (±17.57); the most used drugs were furosemide, nitroglycerin and parenteral labetalol. In the urgencies group, the mean reduction was 39.09 mmHg (±22.46) for SBP and 15.34 mmHg (±16.07) for DBP. The most used drug was short–acting nifedipine benzodiazepine and amlodipine in this group. Age, sex, clinical history of heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, symptoms at ED admission ad eGFR have been recognised as factors associated with organ damage. Instead, BP at ED admission and its management didn’t appear to have a significant impact on outcomes. Conclusions Our study demonstrated better adherence to guidelines in the treatment of hypertensive emergency than of hypertensive urgencies. Furthermore, no significant association were found between the BP management in the ED and in–hospital mortality.